Hosts file to block images

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Don Lekei said:
Microsoft did something misguided in a recent update. I came here to try to
resolve the problem only to find that nobody seems to know what it is.
Click to expand...

Is this your interpretation of some symptoms which you aren't explaining
or do you have an article you can cite about this?

Are you a new user of NT5x by any chance? I could see someone new to NT5x
not understanding that the dnscache is loaded by HOSTS and then lookups from
the dsncache may appear to take precedence over HOSTS. E.g. if you make a
change to HOSTS but don't flush the cache (or reboot) the old HOSTS settings
could still be in effect. I have seen a slightly ambiguous statement that the cache
is updated also whenever HOSTS is changed, so YMMV.

In any case, perhaps all you need to do is flush or disable the dnscache
(if you're making changes to HOSTS you want to be used immediately)?

ipconfig /flushdns

net stop dnscache

Internet Explorer is overriding the hosts file when you are online. Now it
only honors the hosts file when you are offline.
Click to expand...

This is ambiguous too. What do you mean by "when you are offline"?
In one sense you can be Offline in IE but still be connected to the Internet
e.g. by using registry value GlobalUserOffline

It is overriding the TCP/IP
services, and going straight to the offending site.
Click to expand...

What tools did you use to prove this idea?
The only program I am aware of which does this is nslookup
as one would expect.

Ping, tracert, mail, and
other browsers honor the hosts file.

For me this is a killer because I override all of my web sites with
dev.(domain).ca going to localhost, so I can edit sites. However, if my
computer is ONLINE then I can't access the local server.
Click to expand...

As I hinted above your procedure is unclear to me.

Unfortunately, the ONLY work-around I have found so-far is to use another
browser like Firefox. I have been working so hard to avoid that.
Click to expand...

Does Firefox actually *read* HOSTS? E.g. you have used FileMon to detect that?

Details please.


Robert Aldwinckle
(posted from ie6.browser)
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